Chrysler to cut 1,000 white-collar jobs

Saturday

Feb 10, 2007 at 12:01 AM

DETROIT | The Chrysler Group expects to eliminate about 1,000 white-collar jobs -- primarily in Michigan -- as part of a major restructuring to be announced next week, according to people familiar with the plans.The cuts will be in addition to more than 10,000 hourly jobs likely to be slashed in the top-to-bottom overhaul of the underperforming U.S. unit of German automaker DaimlerChrysler AG.Sources familiar with the restructuring plan, code-named “Project X," said that 7 percent of Chrysler’s 14,180 U.S. salaried workers -- or about 1,000 positions -- will be trimmed in the automaker’s biggest downsizing since 2001.A Chrysler spokesman declined to comment.PARIS | Alcatel-Lucent SA said Friday it plans to cut another 3,500 jobs after it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter -- the first earnings report from the recently combined telecom equipment maker.The Paris-based company cited tougher-than-expected market conditions -- particularly in North America -- and uncertainty among customers in the wake of the combination of the French and U.S. equipment makers.The company posted a loss of 618 million euros ($803 million) for the October-December period compared with a profit of 381 million euros a year earlier when calculated as if Alcatel’s Nov. 30 acquisition of Lucent had already taken place.Revenue slumped 15.8 percent to 4.42 billion euros ($5.74 billion) from 5.25 billion euros. Operating income came in at 21 million euros ($27 million) compared with 566 million euros a year earlier.-- -- --LONDON | Britain’s FirstGroup PLC is buying Greyhound bus operator Laidlaw International, which is also North America’s largest school bus operator, for about $2.8 billion.Under the deal announced Friday has agreed to pay $35.25 a share, 11 percent above Thursday’s closing price, for Naperville, Ill.-based Laidlaw. It will also assume about $800 million in debt in the deal.FirstGroup is Britain’s largest bus operator and already has a sizable presence in North America.FirstGroup acquired Ryder Public Transportation Services Inc. in 1999. The purchase of Laidlaw would boost its stake in the North American school bus market to 40 percent from its current level of 13 percent, the company said.-- -- --ATLANTA | The head of the Cartoon Network resigned Friday over a publicity stunt that caused a terrorism scare in Boston.In a memo to staff members, Jim Samples, general manager and executive vice president, said he regretted the incident and felt “compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch."Dozens of blinking circuit boards showing a cartoon character giving the finger were planted in 10 cities as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the cartoon “Aqua Teen Hunger Force." In Boston, the discovery of the devices Jan. 31 led police to shut down bridges and highways and send in the bomb squad.-- -- --NEW YORK | Shares of Fortress Investment Group, the first publicly traded U.S. hedge fund, soared Friday in a trading debut sure to catch the attention of many players in the $1.3 trillion hedge-fund industry.The stock’s initial public offering priced late Thursday at $18.50 per share and rose as high as $37 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Fortress Investment Group’s stock, which trades under the symbol “FIG," closed up $12.50, or 67.6 percent, at $31.00.While a number of hedge funds have gone public in Europe, Fortress Investment Group is the first to hit the stock market in the U.S. Investors viewed the IPO as a crucial litmus test to determine whether other hedge funds will follow Fortress onto the stock market.-- -- --DETROIT | Auto parts supplier Lear Corp. said Friday that it has agreed to a buyout offer by a group affiliated with billionaire investor activist Carl Icahn for about $2.8 billion, but left the door open for a better offer.At least one major shareholder said he would try to get others who own stock to oppose the deal.Under the agreement, Icahn-controlled American Real Estate Partners LP is paying $36 a share, and a Lear spokesman said that amounts to about $2.8 billion. It also includes the assumption of about $2.5 billion in debt.-- -- --MOSCOW | Chevron Corp. wants to purchase disputed assets of OAO Yukos, a bankruptcy official said Friday, raising the prospect of a U.S. company participating in the liquidation of a business that drew protest from the White House and rattled investor confidence in Russia.While it’s unlikely a foreign corporation will be allowed to buy strategic production and refining assets already earmarked for Kremlin-backed monopolies, the expression of interest underscores the powerful pull of the world’s biggest oil and gas industry amid mounting global competition for energy reserves.Yukos’ biggest production unit was bought three years ago by state oil group OAO Rosneft after an opaque auction.-- -- --NEW YORK | MasterCard Inc. said Friday its fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street expectations as consumer spending spiked, but the credit-card company warned margin growth may slow this year. The stock tumbled nearly 10 percent after hitting an all-time high in early trading.The Purchase-based company, which went public in May 2006, posted quarterly profit of $41 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with a loss of $53 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding the impact of litigation settlements, MasterCard reported a profit of $41 million, or 31 cents per share, in the latest period.Revenue rose 17.2 percent to $839 million from $716 million a year ago.Results surpassed projections for profit of 17 cents per share on revenue of $826.9 million, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.-- -- --PROVIDENCE, R.I. | Hasbro Inc., the nation’s second-largest toy maker, said Friday its fourth-quarter profit climbed 15 percent on growth in core brands such as Playskool, Monopoly, and Littlest Pet Shop.Net income rose to $108.3 million, or 62 cents per share, for the three months that ended Dec. 31 versus $94.3 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago.Excluding a 12-cent per share adjustment related to a licensing deal with movie director George Lucas, earnings for the current quarter totaled 74 cents per share.Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for net income of 67 cents per share. Those estimates typically exclude one-time items.-- -- --WASHINGTON | Toxic fumes from cars and gasoline would be cut significantly under new limits on cancer-causing benzene, adopted by the Bush administration under legal pressure from environmental groups.The requirements, to take effect between 2009 and 2011, would reduce toxic emissions of benzene and other pollutants from passenger vehicles by up to 80 percent in the next two decades, the government said Friday.The Environmental Protection Agency said the rules would toughen benzene standards for gasoline, require cleaner-starting engines in cold temperatures and tighten fuel container standards to reduce the evaporation of harmful fumes.-- -- --The Associated PressThe Dow Jones industrial average fell 56.80, or 0.45 percent, to 12,580.83.The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 10.25, or 0.71 percent, to 1,438.06, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 28.85, or 1.16 percent, at 2,459.82.Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 18 cents to settle at $59.89 a barrel by afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.In other Nymex trading, natural gas fell 4.4 cents to settle at $7.827 per 1,000 cubic feet.Nymex heating oil futures rose less than a cent to settle at $1.7251 a gallon, while gasoline futures rose 2.15 cents to settle at $1.6148 a gallon.The Brent crude contract for March slipped 2 cents to settle at $59.01 a barrel on the London ICE Futures exchange.Lorem ipsum do lor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euisminim veniam, quis nosper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.